Shock : molecular, cellular, and systemic pathobiological aspects and therapeutic approaches : the official journal the Shock Society, the European Shock Society, the Brazilian Shock Society, the International Federation of Shock Societies
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Multicenter Study
Children under 4 years are at greater risk of mortality following acute burn injury: evidence from a national sample of 12,902 pediatric admissions.
It is important to have an accurate understanding of mortality risk in children to make sound treatment decisions and to advise parents and families. Several studies have found that children younger than 4 years are at greater risk for mortality from burn injury than older children, although other studies have found no difference. All of these studies, however, have been limited by small sample sizes from single burn centers. ⋯ Logistic regression analysis was used to assess age-related mortality risk. After adjusting for sex, burn size, inhalation injury, and type of burn (flame versus scald), the risk of mortality was substantially higher for children aged 0 to 1.9 years (odds ratio, 2.70; P<0.001) and for children aged 2.0 to 3.9 years (odds ratio, 2.00; P<0.01) as compared with children aged 4 years or older. This study provides strong evidence that when comparing children based on burn injuries of similar size and etiology, children younger than 4 years are at substantial risk for death as compared with older children.
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Beta-defensin-2 (BD-2), a small cationic antimicrobial peptide, was first described to be an inducible defensin at the epithelial surfaces. In vitro studies have demonstrated that it may play a pivotal role in the anti-inflammatory immune response in addition to its antimicrobial activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of overexpression of BD-2 on lung injury to crudely investigate whether the function of BD-2 in the lung attributed to both antimicrobial action and modulation of the immune response. ⋯ The CFU of abdominal bacteria was comparable to that in the control rats (P>0.05). Therefore, overexpression of BD-2 protects against P. aeruginosa pneumonia and 2CLP-induced lung injury based on its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities, respectively. Modulating the expression level of BD-2 may serve as an approach to attenuate lung injury.